Line Up, Shut Up, and Maybe Mr. Jeter Will Sign

Shortly before noon Tuesday, a week before spring training was to begin, a Yankees employee named John Johnson received word on his two-way radio that Derek Jeter had wrapped up his work for the day and would be leaving the team’s minor league complex here. Johnson went straight to the sidewalk out front, where 40 people stood in line.

With the glowering demeanor of a drill sergeant, Johnson delivered a series of instructions that several members of his audience could recite from memory: “Single file! No chitchat! He doesn’t want to hear about your personal life, so don’t ask him about his!”
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He signed 10 autographs by the way...

Now let's compare this with the newest Yankee:

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Tyler Austin, one of the organization’s top prospects, always makes himself available — an easy decision, he said. He recalled attending a Chattanooga Lookouts minor league game as an 8-year-old and positioning himself for postgame autographs by moving down the right-field line, just past a gate that led to the team’s locker room. A couple of players stopped. Many more did not.

“I remember it vividly,” said Austin, an outfielder who has hit .331 in the minors. “My mom looked at me and said, ‘One day you’re going to be there, and I swear if I ever see you walk by anybody and not sign a thing for them, I will come and personally slap you right across the face.’ ”

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You, Mr. Jeter, are not worth the effort-- Even Hank Aaron was respectful to my father when he put down his cigarette and took a moment to sign autographs for my brothers...